Probationary: a game that explores the experience of living while on probation (Dan Burns)
At a recent meeting of the Manchester Game Studies Network, Hwa Young Jung (a multidisciplinary artist and games designer) and Dr. Emma Murray (senior lecturer in criminal justice from Liverpool John Moores University) presented their work in developing Probationary: The Game of Life on Licence. Produced through workshops with men on licence, Probationary explores the lived experience of being on probation, reffecting real experiences of being subject to the criminal justice system and presenting players with an opportunity to play, understand and discuss such systems within our society.
Probationary very clearly takes the form of a game. To all intents and purposes, it looks like a classic game such as Snakes and Ladders, or, indeed, The Game of Life whose title it invokes. In terms of gameplay, Probationary (which was designed for three to five players, one of whom takes a game master-like role as the ‘Eye’) gives each player an identity (a composite character with a set of values, abilities and restrictions) and the goal of moving from their designated starting space to the final ‘safe space’. Movement is determined by the roll of a d6, with players picking up cards on each space that either award or remove points. The player with the most points by the time all players reach the safe space wins. In addition to this classic roll-andmove mechanism, players must ‘report in to the Eye’ at specified points, with penalties applied for failing to do so.
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April 2019 (#29)
 
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